So Caught Up Inside to Know Whats Real
by Good-Moralled-Hips
Summary: Title credits to There for Tomorrow. Alissa, a 17-year old dancer, moves to the Palm Woods to pursue a career in LA. Her childhood friend, Lucy, introduces her to more than she had ever thought she would get into. No pairings at the moment.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plotline, mostly, and my character, Alissa.**

**Summary: Alissa Kamdan is the childhood best friend of Lucy Stone, comes from New York to persue a dance career in LA. The Palm Woods seems like a good place to start but she might get more than she had anticipated there.**

The kids of the Palm Woods in Los Angeles were very _different_ than kids trying to make it big in New York. New Yorkers were plain out vicious, competitive in every sense of the word. If you didn't know exactly what you wanted for a career and weren't willing to do anything to achieve that, they would walk all over you and beat you out of the running so bad no one would ever consider you for the job. The people here in California are still competitive, but they want to be your friend. They aren't as cutthroat and I felt completely out of place walking through the lobby, so used to avoiding direct eye contact and now having everyone come up to introduce themselves. It was. . . strange to say the least. I spotted Lucy standing by the elevator, smirking as she watched me react to my first 'West coast' experience.

"You get used to it," she laughed as we stepped into the elevator, handing me my room key. "Bitter's had to go to a meeting so he asked that I give it to you."

"Who is Bitters?" I asked, half paying attention as I checked my phone for a text from my mom.

"He's the manager of this building. He's not as scary as he tries to seem, trust me. Its so easy to outsmart him. Are you having your boxes sent up to your apartment?" she answered, pressing the D button on the elevator.

"Yeah, I have a mass audition in a few hours and I don't have the extra time to drag every box up to the room myself. 2D. . . Is that a good apartment?"

She thought for a moment and shrugged, "A bit bigger than mine. The higher up you go, the bigger the rooms get. It'll be big enough for you. Mine's barely big enough for me to walk around, let alone my friends too. I'm surprised your mom let you leave New York before you turned 18."

I laughed for a moment, nodding and pulling my long, dark brown hair back into a ponytail that revealed the single purple streak on the left underside of my hair. "My dad's paying for everything so she didn't have a reason not to. She's coming out in a month for my birthday anyway, so I guess she'll be out early to 'check everything out'." I used air quotes and she smiled, leading me out of the elevator on my floor. "Oh, by the way, your brother gave me a book to give you. Its in one of my boxes."

"I'll get it after your audition, I'll just help you unpack too. Kill two birds with one stone. Oh, and I get to teach you the ins and outs of this place," she winked and I couldn't resist raising my eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure I don't what to know what kinds of trouble you can get in out here."

"Eh, not too bad actually. Well, with my friends it can get pretty bad. Speaking of, you need to meet them. And we need to get you a boyfriend."

Groaning, I gave her a semi-threatening glare. "I see you haven't given up on the boyfriend thing. I didn't want one back home and I don't want one now. This is my best chance to start my career. I don't need a guy to hold me back, Luce."

"Liss, you need someone to make you happy. You don't have to get serious, just have fun. This is also your chance to finally have all of those teenage experiences your mom never let you have." I didn't hold back the sigh that came out and opened the door to my new apartment. The walls were a bland khaki with a few wall scones lighting up the small hallway to my left and a large picture window letting sunlight into the conjoined living room and kitchen.

"Are you allowed to make any changes to the apartment?" I asked, not exactly a big fan of the dull colors that decorated the small living space.

"Not unless you want to pay more on your contract."

"Then I guess its a good thing I'm not paying for this. I'll talk to. . . Bitters later. Right now, I need to get over to the audition," I said, feeling the nervousness start to grow in my stomach.

"If you're out by five you should meet me and my friends at this cafe around the corner for dinner," she invited and smiled as we headed back out the door.

"I should be, so I'll let you know if I get out on time." She nodded and we headed for the elevator.

This is basically me getting a flow and personality into my main character. I didn't get to bring anyone except Lucy into it yet, but everyone else will come in the next chapter. Promise. Review if you want, I can't wait to get this next chapter out. Thanks for reading.


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